News Summary: US-Pacific trade pact delayed
News Summary: Pacific trade pact delay hurts US shift to Asia, faces key hurdle in Congress
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2013, file photo, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, front right, and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, front second left, arrive for the Trans-Pacific Partnership meet in Bali, Indonesia. The failure to finalize a landmark trans-Pacific trade pact this year as planned has dealt a blow to President Barack Obama's policy pivot to Asia. While negotiators say they have made substantial progress, myriad hurdles remain to creating a bloc encompassing a third of global trade. One of the biggest will be winning the backing of the U.S. Congress. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)
MISSED DEADLINE: The failure to complete a landmark trans-Pacific trade pact this year as planned is a blow to President Barack Obama's effort to shift the U.S. foreign policy focus to Asia after a decade of costly war in the Afghanistan and Iraq.
UNFINISHED WORK: Negotiators for the 12 nations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership say they have made substantial progress, but many hurdles remain to creating a bloc encompassing a third of global trade. One of the biggest will be winning the backing of Congress.
BIG PLANS: The administration views the partnership as key to boosting American exports in Asia's fast-growing markets and demonstrating U.S. economic leadership in a region where strategic rival China looms increasingly large.
